Xavier reached for his undershirt and pulled it over his massive shoulders then tossed it in a clothing bin he passed on the way to the master bathroom. It was almost midnight, and negotiations with this latest contract had stalled for longer than he liked. However, after going back and forth through several rounds, Xavier came out the victor. His negotiation skills were tough and no-nonsense. Since he’d been in the business, league representatives cringed after finding out he was the agent, knowing whatever Xavier went for he usually retained. It had been a rough couple of days, but Xavier was determined to seal the deal on this contract today, and so he did. Inside the bathroom, Xavier bypassed the clawfoot tub in favor of the glass shower stall and adjusted the water’s temperature to his pleasure.

He didn’t waste time getting in; Xavier was in need of the tranquility he found in the steamy bath. He soaked for more than an hour, letting the rainfall needle his muscles and massage his shoulders. With his head under the spray, Xavier closed his eyes, and images of the only person he’d thought of for the past week resurfaced, Corinne Thomas. When he met her, Xavier wasn’t prepared for the flourish of emotions that gripped him. When he reasoned why they were there, Xavier alleged it must’ve been his intense attraction to her. Corinne was a beautiful woman with her daring almond-shaped eyes and risqué appearance. He remembered her laugh, dark and sultry. It had gripped his heart a couple of times, and Xavier made an effort to shake it off repeatedly. But when Corinne was caught in the pathway of Hurricane Jasper, Xavier found a new reason to want her. It wasn’t something that he searched for purposefully, but rather an odd necessity to keep her close.

With his mind craving constant thoughts of her, Xavier left his bathroom with a towel wrapped haphazardly around his waist. In the bedroom, he strolled to his closet and removed a tailored Armani suit he would wear the next day.

“Corinne…” he mused, his thoughts taking him on a trip to his cell phone. Retrieving the device, he strolled through his contacts and tapped her icon to send a message. He was halfway through typing, Thinking of You, when he erased the words and opted for a phone call. Now standing idly by his nightstand, Xavier waited for her to answer, but it was late, and it appeared his call would go to voicemail. As he cleared his throat to leave his message, the ringing in his ear stopped, and her dark throaty voice cruised through the line.

“Hello…”

Xavier closed his eyes and mentally calmed the beat of his heart.

“Did I catch you at a bad time,” his deep voice strummed.

There was movement on the other end of the line.

“Xavier?”

“Were you expecting someone else?”

More movement on the other end.

“No, I actually wasn’t expecting anyone but especially not you.” Corinne paused then moved forward with her explanation. “You know, with you being the head of secret service and all.”

A smile peppered across his lips, and a grizzly chuckle coursed from his throat.

“Aren’t you the comic of the hour,” he said, his voice also dark and daring.

“I thought it was funny,” she joked.

Xavier nodded. “It was a good one.” A long pause threaded their connection. “I’ve missed you.”

On the other end, Corinne clutched the phone with a tight fist. Her pulse accelerated, and a warm coat of delight poured over her.

“I’ve,” she paused, “missed you, too.”

“Have you?”

Corinne melted into the comfort of the hotel covers. “I have.”

“Prove it,” he said.

Corinne gawked. “How can I do that?”

“Meet me halfway between where you are and where I am, right now.”

Corinne’s thoughts tangled, and a spiraling thrill of energy wrapped around her skin. “Unfortunately, that’s impossible,” she said.

“I have no recollection of the word impossible. Tell me where you are, and I’ll show you.”

Corinne’s heart raced at an all-time high. His promise made her pull from the covers and race to the bathroom to check her overall appearance. There was a bonnet on her head. A colorful one at that. The knee length button down silk nightgown was oversized, but Corinne could only sleep in clothes double her size for the comfort and loose fit of them. Her reflex told her to lose the bonnet and the shirt and put on something sexy, but her common sense said there was no way he could get to her tonight, unless he was a magician.

“Xavier, that’s sweet, but I’m in Anguilla. We are stuck on a layover until morning.”

“We?” he asked.

“I mean, the crew and me.”

“I see.”

She heard the disappointment in his tone.

“Where is your next destination?” he asked.

“Um…” she murmured, “For the next layover, Salt Lake City.”

“Utah?”

She chuckled. “Yeah, sounds like fun, huh?”

“Hmmm, I can think of a thing or two to get into if you’re game.”

Corinne opened her mouth then thought about her words and licked her lips. She didn’t want to sound overtly excited. Besides, this was Xavier Valentine we were talking about. Even with their instant chemistry and the possibility of a romance brewing, it didn’t mean it was actually so.

“Do you have the free time? I thought you were busy with—”

“Corinne…”

His thunderous voice drug out her name, sending an impetuous shiver over her skin.

“I’ll always be busy with impending deals on the horizon, but I make time for what’s important.”

“And seeing me in Salt Lake City is important?”

“Seeing you is important. The place, time, or event is a non-factor.”

Corinne’s eyes enlarged with surprise, and she took a hand to her neck and drove it down her chest.

“Why?” she asked.

On the other end of the phone, Xavier had moved from his bedside to the entrance of his master quarters. Leaning a shoulder into the doorjamb, he licked his lips and took a sturdy hand down his beard, deciding to tell her what he’d been thinking the last couple of days.

“Honestly, Corinne, I hadn’t been on a date for years before our blind date. And I’m talking about a real date, where I’m interested in the other person I’m with.” He paused and added, “Most women that have been spotted in the media with me were merely for the show of having a companion. When I agreed to the blind date, it was to get out of my normal routine of non-stop exertion. But you…”

Corinne swallowed and kept still as she waited for him to finish that train of thought.

“I never expected to meet someone like you. Beauty aside, your intelligence on the state of our country, the passion you spoke with, and the spiciness in your retorts when I challenged you left me, thirsting.”

A ripple of heat in a somersault of chills sprinkled down Corinne’s skin. She remembered that conversation all too well because Xavier had ruffled her with his rhetoric about the presidency being on the right road to recovering our nation. Several times, she’d been ready to get up and walk out on him, and usually she would have had it been some other bum talking through an ignorant lens, but this was Xavier Valentine. He wasn’t ignorant nor a bum, and with the voice he had, Corinne needed him to know how wrong he was and why.

“You took me on headstrong, and no one’s ever done that before.”

Corinne’s brows rose. “Really?”

“Really.”

“So, you’re one of those celebrities that everyone just agrees with and tells you what you want to hear?”

Xavier chuckled. “I’d hardly qualify as a celebrity,” he said.

“If you believe that, then I may have to go toe to toe with you again about how wrong you are.”

His chuckle became dangerously delicious as it beat through the phone and scorched her ear.

“I love that about you, too.”

“What’s that?”

Now Corinne’s voice held that dark throaty sound that Xavier grew to cherish every time he had the honor of hearing it.

“Your sense of humor. I feel like I could talk to you about anything, and whether we agreed or not, it would be a nourishing debate.” He paused, and Corinne blushed unaware of how to respond.

“So, what do you say, Corinne, meet me in Salt Lake City?”

Corinne’s smile lifted her face. How could she refuse his request?

“It’s going to take me about ten hours to get there, maybe longer depending on connecting flights. I won’t have the details of our stops until I board tomorrow.”

“Is that a yes?” he asked, making her slap her forehead.

Xavier didn’t fair well with excuses, so after she was finished tossing that thought around, the only thing he needed to know was if she would welcome him should he come.

“Okay,” she acquiesced. “I’ll meet you in Salt Lake City.”